Guilds take a lot of effort, time, and neopoints. If you don't have either of these things for whatever reason (Lazyness being the top one), don't create one. Don't clog up the guilds pages. When you go to search through the guilds in the neighborhoods, there are more guilds that hold just 1 member rather than 50. Do us all a favor and avoid it, it's really annoying wanting to search for a good guild and only come across abandoned ones.
Go to the Guild board frequently and try to tally up what the variety is in the themes the Neopians are advertising. If you see 50 guilds dealing with Harry Potter, don't do Harry Potter. That is unless you love the series so much you want to take a chance and hope your odds of having a lot of members happens.
It's best to have your co-owner somewhat financially stable and knowledgeable. That way they can help you host events. Contests are not allowed in Neopets anymore due to many scams that have occurred in the past. However you can find ways around hosting an actual contest. We'll get to that later, but the point is your co-owner can and should be helping you.
Furthermore, if your co-owner is somewhat plentiful in neopoints, you should be too (Or at least be making enough to strive). YOU created the guild, don't depend too much on your co-owner to assist financially, because that's taking advantage of a friendly person. Like it was mentioned above, make sure your partner at least know some of how to run a guild too. You don't want your partner bringing you down after all. If they need some pointers, bring 'em here ;)
Please make sure that they all pull their own weight. Don't just place your friends on the council for kicks, make them actually work. I'm one to be a semi-perfectionist ^^;, So when I see I'm doing all my council work, and the others work on their duties once a millennium, I get fed up and just leave the guild. We don't want that now.
And meaningful jobs too. Don't give out random useless jobs, like taking care of getting a certain number of views each day on your guild. O.o How useless does that make the person feel? While we're on the subject, be sure to give your co-owner all administrative powers, that way they actually feel like a co-owner.
Calendar: Removes entries from the guild calendar.
These jobs don't need to be given to one certain person each, some council members should have access to more than one jurisdiction. Think clearly about how you give these powers out. To name an example, the layout. Only 3 people should have access to it: Owner, Co-Owner, and the layout creator (Who is suppose to know HTML/CSS and is not just placing up premade layouts).
Well I've seen many guilds give this power to all the council members since they have a council chat. My personal opinion on that, I'd avoid it. Mostly because it has useless things on it. That space could be used for more important information. If you have an announcement, just place it under a news blog or message board, simple.
Besides the list above, you can also give out jobs like managing the 1 NP auctions, handling the website, newbie pack duties, and more. Please make sure for all these jobs, everyone is doing it right and on time.
Step Nine: Sub-Council
Before even creating a new blog on your layout for a sub-council, stop and think. Why have them? Do they serve any purpose, or are you just doing that to attract more members? People on sub-councils are just members whose names are featured on the layout, many guilds don't even give them jobs. So unless the sub-council can have an actual purpose, don't create one and ask for people to apply to be part of it.
Step Ten: Ranks
Guilds have 5 ranks besides the council. A default for when someone joins the guild, and then the 4 higher ones. People with certain ranks can only do certain jobs, like invite others to the guild (More useful if the guild is private), but aside from that it isn't really all that important. Most guilds I've been in make a requirement of donations, a certan number of member recruitments and/or a certain number of posts to reach these higher ranks. The guild's website (Details further down) should have information on ranks. Neopets does not allow donation requirements for higher ranks to occur anymore, which I believe is a good thing. To donate neopoints just to get a a different status name is wrong and seems scam-ish.
Step Eleven: Layout
We finally reach the layout problem I've seen so many guilds have. Let's start off with saying that premade layouts are not bad, however public opinion has shown that a large percentage just don't prefer them. Custom layouts are favorites to most, because it shows effort was put into trying to bring in members with visual appeal.
Always remember that many people do not have fast internet connections, so be considerate. If your guild takes too long to load for them, or it freezes up their computer from just viewing it, take down that layout immediately and find a new one. For help creating guild layouts, you can visit this petpage. It helps you both graphic-wise and code-wise.
Music, the dreadful noise that can scare many away. Unless your guild is music-centered, or you're using a low toned midi, don't put random mp3's in your guild. One thing is that it slows down many people's browsers from loading the page. Two is it can freeze up the person's desktop. Three is that many might not like the music you picked at all, thinking it to be horrible rather than an inviting rhythm.
The most common problem for me is that I hate viewing guilds in the middle of the night and having my speakers blast Britney Spears out of no where. I sometimes forget to lower my volume, so when caught by surprise, I can get angry at the guild for playing "Toxic." I'm not the only one I'm sure. So put a lot of thought into whether or not to add music.
To host your layout, best not use Photobucket. All other images should be uploaded there except the main layout picture. Bandwidth is an issue you're best to stray away from (And Photobucket won't help you much there). If you want a lot of views and a lot of members, then stick to a free image hosting site like imageshack.us or imagecave.com. Or you can use a private FTP host to avoid the Bandwidth Exceeded logo. That logo, seen below, can cost you a lot more members than you'll know.
{ Explanation on Bandwidth: Think of bandwidth like money. Photobucket gives you $20 every month (An allowance). Your pictures are small amounts of money themselves. Everytime someone looks at any image in your Photobucket account, you lose money. When people view too much of your stuff, you go over the $20 limit Photobucket gave you to start off with. So now you have to wait until a new month restarts your balance and you receive your next allowance. }
When putting up information in your layout, avoid placing useless things such as a blog introducing yourself, a council chat, etc. Only place meaningful information members and visitors will be interested in. Speaking of which, I've seen many guilds avoid putting up a layout altogether and simply pasting text. Do NOT do that. That's unattractive and shows no effort!
Continuing on this matter, many people do not have the advanced graphic skills like some others do. Though it is a disadvantage, there are many people willing to create a custom one for you for free. I stress the Neopet rule of paying for layouts. Don't do it, the person charging you is not allowed to do this (Well, they can't do this using Neopets copyright images). You can give them an item or donate to their shop only if YOU suggest it, not if the other person demands it.
On your guild council, you should already have or be in the market of recruiting a good graphic maker to make custom layouts for the guild, it saves you time. A good idea would be to try to have a new layout every month or bi-monthly. Or if you have one so good it keeps attracting many members, stick to it!
And referring back to premade layouts, if you're going to use one, leave the credit up so it can link back to the place you found it. AND please remove the TEXT HERE writing the blogs carry for premade layouts.
Step Twelve: Website
Everyone guild should have their own website. It helps new members find information quicker and the old members be up to date on things. When I say websites however, I don't literally mean you need to go to a free web hosting site and create an account. You can use your petpage! But remember to make it look nice. Don't paste a variety of blogs that Neopets offers for shops as information blogs for your guild. It's not creative and looks tacky.
Make sure your website has actual information, not just a clutter of banners for people to look at to advertise (More on banners in the next step). Have an explanation of rules, trivia, special events, auctions, newbie packs, guild ranks, etc on your site. Have useful links (Whatever you left out of the guild layout to avoid a mess), and most importantly.. actually UPDATE.
If your last update was somewhere in January when we're all the way in August, your members will get disappointed and probably leave the guild. Why? It shows inactivity.
Step Thirteen: Banners/Graphics
To advertise your guild, create banners to attract those who see them. However, I stress the size of your banners. I've seen banners the size of wallpapers. That does not attract more people, it just shows how inexperience the graphic creators of the guild are. Have them at a meaningful size. Not too wide, not too lengthy. And do put effort into them, like the layouts. If you are just simply going to paste text on a image you find randomly on Google, it won't get the attention of many.
And if you are going to use premade banners from other sites and just add your information on the banner, give credit to that site or Neopet user unless it's already on the banner. Do not erase the credit from the premade banners, as well as layouts. Actually, any graphics you take, never remove the credit. That is completely rude.
The person who is offering these graphics and codes spend time on the work they are handing to all who visit their site/petpages for free, do them the courtesy of giving them their due credit.
Step Fourteen: Message Board
Be sure to create rules for your guild's message board. If someone joins and all they see is a 3 page conversation between two people on how the color blue is not such a pretty color, most likely they'll leave. Keep people from spamming, and have an active board. You can make a requirement for people to post meaningful posts twice or once a week, proving they are still alive. Unless you don't mind an inactive board and inactive members, you don't need to worry about this part. But just because you don't care about the unfriendly people in your guild who never post in the boards, others who join might.
Step Fifteen: Friendly
Be friendly, no matter if you're part of the council or not. Friendliness brings more people in. Making them feel welcomed, showing you actually acknowledged that someone joined, makes others feel important/special. An idea to achieve this is to do a daily or weekly check on the members list and see who joined recently (Unless they've already introduced themselves on the board). Give them a warm welcome, and some warm soup!
Step Sixteen: Newbie Packs
Despite of the fact that people want to join interesting guilds, many also want to benefit from them. You don't want to have members that only join to get items though, that might result in losing many items you could of given away to trustworthy and dedicated members. For the newbie packs, make them have a requirement of staying for a certain amount of time. Don't make it a year, as that's unfair, at least 2 weeks or less. Having to post a certain number of times too, showing they are active, is also good. But remind the members that spam doesn't count towards their message count.
Also, don't put junk in your newbie packs. Things worth 1 neopoint you received from the freebies are best to avoid. You don't need to give away expensive items off the bat either, but at least let the members make some profit. I won't name a certain price range, use your best judgment.
Step Seventeen: Contests
The following was taken from the Neopets Help Section. This proves that contests in shops, guilds, and anywhere else inside Neopets that the site itself isn't hosting, are not allowed.
Contests, raffles, or any other promotions promising a prize are not allowed on Neopets whether it be in a user's shop, guild, etc. The Neopets terms and conditions state that promotions offering prizes of any sort (including contests, raffles, lotteries, chain letters or any kind of giveaway) are not allowed.
If you come across a guild or shop owner that is breaking this rule, please use the abuse reporting form to tell us about it. We need your help to enforce this rule. Some people use so-called contests or raffles as a way to scam people out of their NP and/or items, which is why they had to be banned altogether.
If your guild has a competition that offers NO reward or prize, this is not considered a contest, so it is okay. Just be careful how you advertise the competition. If you refer to it as a contest, the monitors will assume that it means a prize is being offered and you will likely receive a warning.
Step Eighteen: Events
Many people hold random giveaways in their guilds. Giving away map pieces, paintbrushes, pet pets, other rare or expensive items for being the 50th member. These are good ideas to do. Though try to be creative and make it a bit hard to win these giveaways. Unless it's a member of the day and such, the way to receive the items should be something the person needs to work a little for (Prevents members from sneaking in, taking the expensive item, and leaving the same day).However remember what step 17 says, don't make it so it seems they're giving you neopoints to get a prize in return. That's similar to a scam and can get you into a lot of trouble.
Adoption agencies are a fan-favorite amongst guilds. Neopets do allow guilds to have adoption agencies, however there are restrictions. While you can place information about the soon-to-pounded pet somewhere in your guild and state the time it will go in, don't make it a guarantee that the members of your guild will get the pet if they donate a certain amount or anything relating. They pay at the pound only, not to you for abandoning the pet.
You want more ideas? How about hosting battledome royales and such too? You like the plots Neopets comes up with? Well, make your own! Be creative with your events, not all of them need to cost you neopoints. Make it fun to be part of the guild.
One thing I find a bit interesting is when you get points in your guild for doing certain things, and with those points added up, it allows you to get certain items for free. I've seen many guilds do it, but I stress the whole making them donate scenario. Many may want to donate, but don't have the means to, so make them get the points some other way.
Let members donate if they wish to, not by force.
Step Nineteen: What To Do With Donations
From the donations your guild may receive, don't keep it all for yourself. That's scamming. Buy something expensive to hand out to your guild members, it's what the donation guild is meant for. Also, it's best to put up a guild till somewhere on the guild's layout, helps others know you are not ripping them off.
Step Twenty: Auctions and Trades
Unless the members have stayed for a number of days/weeks, and have been reasonably active, don't let them participate in special auctions or trades. Otherwise it proves they just joined to get the items and will then leave. No one wants that... Right?
Step Twenty-One: Advertising
When you want to advertise for your guild, be sure to have everything already set up. Don't advertise a guild that has nothing on it.
Many people have ads for their guild that are not exactly believable. Receiving a rare book the minute you join? While still giving away paintbrushes every day? Chances are this is completely untrue, and the guild is just trying to buy you in. Don't create a guild and only have items/neopoints to offer. That attracts only n00bs.
Banners are great, but you can only see them in user lookups, petpages, or shops. When it comes to advertising on the boards, text ads are your only option. Be sure to make your text ad decorative while at the same time informative. However please avoid adding too many *'s, #s, ^'s. It makes it hard to read the actual words. And when someone in the Guild boards makes a thread stating they are guildless, read their entry. If they ask for no anime guilds, don't post your anime ad!
Dont's
Dont let others advertise other guilds they may own on another account in your board. That can cause a drop in amount of members since they are more interested in the other person's guild.
Something to Remember
Like I said in step 6, before you even start your guild, you should first have financial upholdings. I think it would be best to achieve all your goals in Neopets first and THEN start a guild. I'll explain.
You want to paint your pets? Want to battle a lot and reach a certain level? Want to manage a gallery with the best expensive plushies in Neopia? Those costs a lot of neopoints, so unless you can afford reaching your goals and manage the guild at the same time, ignore the idea of your own guild for a while. Oh, and for the future, if you're trying to reach for a certain goal in your guild, be sure to let your fellow members know about it too. They'll help.
1) Why should you give me advice?!
××× I have been in many other guilds, and been part of their council in each one, so I know my way around. Problem is, all those guilds had poor management problems, I was just one person trying to do my job while the others did nothing. After a while I'd get fed up with the guild and leave. Now you know my inspiration for this guide.
2)You know all this, but you don't even have your own guild?
××× I don't manage my own guild at the moment because I want to achieve my goals before anything (Which if you're kind you can help me out with them). Once I do that, keep a sharp eye out. A guild is my last goal.
3) I followed all your steps! It doesn't work!
××× Patience is key my friend.
4) Other guilds that just have 'hi' in the description have over 50 members, while I put effort and only have like 5! What's the deal?
××× I've seen this happen many times. It's truly sad. It takes away from the good guilds out there, but don't let it stress you out. There are many Neopians out there looking for a meaningful guild, they'll come to you.
5) Do you make guild graphics (Or any at all)?
××× Most common question. I used to own a site with layouts+ and would make custom ones for those who asked, but I no longer make them, sorry.
6) Can you join my guild council to help me out?
××× I plan on staying away from guilds for a long time, then start my own when I can, so no. Sorry. You don't need me to have a successful guild though, just my guide!
7) Can you give more advice?
××× Be specific, I'll help anyway I can. ^_^ Most of the basic questions for guilds are located here, so check there first before neomailing me.
8) Did you code this petpage?
××× Yes. Every single layout you see that belongs to me was made by me (Unless otherwise indicated), on all three of my animefreak869, love_angel869 , and angel_goddess84 accounts. So please don't take any of the graphics or codes.
9) Be my neofriend?
××× We have to have already talked some. Have things in common. The basic drills.
10) When was this page created?
××× This page was created on August 1, 2005. Updated last August 08, 2007. This page is now a part of the So_You_Need_A_Guide petpage as well as the PetGuide petpage.
I hope this page was helpful! Any questions, neomail me! Feel free to link or check back to this page whenever and wherever. Refer to it as many times as you like, and please spread the word. And if you have the time, check out my other petpages, links in my Shop!
